Foundation concept: Domain name.

Definition: The non-profit corporation delegated responsibility for the allocation of IP addresses and other internet-related identifiers by the US Department of Commerce.

Overview

IP addresses and domain names are critical to the operation of the internet, and at the top level must be managed by a recognized authority. The US Department of Commerce somehow became the international authority for such things, and delegates that authority to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). It is a non-profit corporation, with an international board, and has subsumed the former responsibilities of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).

ICANN usually allocates IP addresses in large groups to regional authorities, who then allocate them individually or in smaller groups to ISPs and other organizations. ICANN is also responsible for the overall management of DNS, the Domain Name Service, and creates the top-level domains (such as “.com” and “.org”) and the national domains (such as “.uk” and “.nu”).

ICANN is often blamed, completely unfairly, for the fact that IP addresses are running out, and organizations in the developing world might not be getting the share they would like. They are also sometimes blamed, perhaps less unfairly, for the fact that prices for registration are much higher than they once were, and this is seen as unreasonably favoring the old established organizations over new ones.